Bush is talking to the Cuban American people of Miami

5/20/02

[Satadru]

How much you want to bet that he won't.

[gramho12]

And I suppose Reagan should have not said "tear down that wall" unless it was China also. This "all or nothing at all" approach is complete anti-Bush liberal clap-trap. One step at a time.

[Satadru]

Actually, that is not true. The only people who are benefited are the members of the Communist party and the Chinese military. China does not have a free and open market. It has state-sponsored capitalism and only the state benefits from it. They continue to jail dissidents and people who choose to practice religions not sanctioned by the state. They haven't hold a free and fair election since mao took over. Where is the call to ask China to hold free and fair election? It is all about money. The Chinese govt and the Cuban dissidents give both political parties tons of money. That buys them policy. Face the facts and get down from your high horse.

[philetus]

He lapsed into spanish a couple times for a few words.

The crowd seemed to appreciate it.

[Satadru]

Why do you want to tear down the Great Wall of China? It is one of the only redeeming thigs they have built

[RoseofTexas]

DANG! DANG! DANNNNNNG IT!! I missed it, I was at the beauty parlor!! BUT Beauty comes first...LOL! Tell me, did he have a GOOD turn out of folks??

[gramho12]

Why do you want to tear down the Great Wall of China?

Because it's there...

[philetus]

It sounded like a big crowd,but I didn`t see them.

I was just listening.Might have been two people with a reverb device.

[Satadru]

The understanding throughout the Cold War years is that USSR is the big fish, and once you get rid of that other countries will follow. Amazingly, the Chinese were able to halt (I mean kill) any anti-Communist movements that took place in other then-Communist countries. They not only survived, but started gaining foothold in the American political system. That is the key to their survival, and they know it. That is why everytime something goes wrong in our relationship, they go ballistic. We are the reason why the Chinese communists are so strong. When we give them PNTR or military secrets, they become strong in our expense. Bush should have stopped this nonsense, but I am starting to think this is beyond him as well. There are stronger forces at play, where even Bush is only a pawn.

[aruanan]

For Bush not to mention Elian to the very community in Florida that suffered through that hugely symbolic event, is to miss a huge opportunity to connect with the very community he hopes to rally. Believe me, I won't be the only one to notice this glaring ommision in the days to come.

Ha ha ha ha. Or, should I say, ja ja ja ja ja. Glaring "ommision"? Come on. Elian being sent back to Cuba didn't have anything to do with Castro; it had everything to do with Clinton. But the speech was about Castro, CASTRO. As such, it was a momentous, unambiguous declaration of the moral bankruptcy of a despotic regime and its 'lider' such as has not occurred since Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the evil empire. Well, I take that back, Bush did name the axis of evil a short while back. All in all, though, we haven't had this kind of president since Reagan's time. To talk about Elian being a glaring omission is to not see the forest for the trees.

[flamefront]

Yes mainly English, with some interspersed comments in Spanish.

[MissAmericanPie]

Gee, I have just lived for the day when my tax money would go to give scholarships to Cuban students while my husband and I will work three jobs each to get our son through college, if, given racial profiling, he can even get in, that is.

[maxwellp]

Member since May 28? What do you have against people longing to be free, Cuban or otherwise? I think you are in the wrong forum.

[CWRWinger]

I heard most of the speech. It was very good. The Cuban-Americans sounded like they wanted to take Cuban right now.
A commentator stated there are 700,000 Cubans in Miami which is more than the population of Havanna. Haven't had time to check to see if this is true. If it is, I don't know what they are waiting for.

A couple other comments: (1).Bush needs to apply the same verbage to China; (2).I suspect even if the Cubans kicked Castro out, they will not be able to maintain a free republic for very long. Maybe 50 years at the most. They will go thru the same cycle as before and end up with another Castro.

[flamefront]

The Elian Gonzalez Story: A Compilation Of FreeRepublic Threads

And of special interest -
Bush urges Reno not to send Gonzalez back to Cuba

[Twodees]

Dai uy in the NVA? Why are you using the rank of a Vietnamese officer for a screen name?

[Fracas]

I heard that same 700,000 number and wondered the same thing. It was an excellent speech; a notch or two short of a 'call to arms'. The crowd was nodding in agreement from the first word.